HR398-119

What This Bill Does

This bill adds a temporary geothermal cost-recovery authority to section 6 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Through September 30, 2032, the Secretary of the Interior may require geothermal lease applicants or lease holders to reimburse the United States for reasonable administrative and other costs tied to geothermal leasing, operations plans, drilling permits, utilization plans, site licenses, facility construction permits, commercial use permits, and other approvals associated with a geothermal lease.

The reimbursement authority also covers inspection and monitoring of geophysical exploration, drilling, plugging, abandonment, construction, operation, termination, and reclamation of geothermal wells and facilities. The Secretary must consider whether a cooperative cost-share agreement already exists with the lease holder and may reduce reimbursement if full payment would impose economic hardship or if a partial reimbursement is necessary to promote the greatest use of geothermal resources. Reimbursed amounts are credited to the relevant Department of the Interior account as discretionary offsetting collections and are available only as provided in advance in appropriations Acts.

Who Benefits and How

Department of the Interior geothermal program administrators benefit because reimbursed costs can support leasing, permitting, inspection, and monitoring work when appropriations make the collections available. Bureau of Land Management geothermal staff benefit from a funding mechanism tied directly to application-processing workload. Geothermal developers can benefit indirectly if cost recovery gives the department capacity to process permits and inspect projects more predictably. Federal taxpayers benefit because some administrative costs can be shifted to applicants and lease holders that use the geothermal program.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Geothermal lease applicants bear higher costs when the Secretary requires reimbursement for application processing and related approvals. Geothermal lease holders bear costs for inspections, monitoring, plugging, abandonment, facility construction, operation, termination, and reclamation oversight. Department of the Interior fee administrators must decide when to require reimbursement, assess hardship or resource-development reductions, manage cooperative cost-share agreements, and account for offsetting collections. Geothermal industry stakeholders may need to provide information if the Secretary evaluates the authority or if older report-language from prior versions informs program oversight.

Key Provisions

• Authorizes Interior cost recovery for geothermal lease applications, operations plans, drilling permits, utilization plans, site licenses, and related approvals through September 30, 2032.
• Authorizes recovery of inspection and monitoring costs for exploration, drilling, plugging, abandonment, construction, operation, termination, and reclamation.
• Requires the Secretary to consider existing cooperative cost-share agreements before imposing reimbursement.
• Allows reduced reimbursement for economic hardship or to promote the greatest use of geothermal resources.
• Credits reimbursements to Interior accounts as discretionary offsetting collections available only through appropriations Acts.